Block 24 is finished. The pattern called for all of the berries to be inside the circle of leaves, but mine were a bit larger than the pattern, even though I traced the circles given, so I placed some of my berries outside the circle and I like the way it came out.

I've been off the QB for a few weeks due to moving from the winter house to the summer house so I've missed seeing all these gorgeous blocks you've been making. You still amaze me at how quickly you're getting these done. It took me 5+ years to get all 40 of the blocks finished. You rock.

I've started to put the blocks together now. And, that's not easy either. I'm slow but it's coming together. I'm going to start a thread to show my progress on that as I continue.

One by one the blocks are stacking up. Block 25 was a challenge because I tried to make the berries smaller. I used a notebook paper hole punch on the freezer paper which gave me about a 1/4" circle. My goodness, my chunky fingers did not want to work with something that small but I finally got them all done along with another 80 HSTs.

You are so smart to work on the HST strips while you're still working on the blocks. Those HST strips are really taking me a lot of time.

How are you doing yours? I'm doing them with paper piecing. I had a friend send me some 1" templates in a strip. All I had to do was copy enough strips, tape them together, and then do the PP. I goofed at first though because I didn't think about the fact that PP is mirror image. It wasn't a hard fix and now I'm back on track. I have 10 HST strips to do for the next row.

Again, you are so speedy on those blocks. This latest one is awesome. (See, I use awesome a lot, too.) I'm enjoying your journey as I continue on mine. Keep it up!

Nanna-up-north without your epic journey I would have never even crossed the street. On the HST I use the 8 to a square method. To get the 8 is easy enough but then I have to square up each one which takes a little bit of time. I have been getting 80 HSTs to each 4" cut (42" fabric). The proof in the pudding will come when it's time to sew the sets to the appliqued squares. I can only hope they come together half as good as yours are. Doing a day of cutting and sewing HSTs now and then gives my fingers a break from all the needle work.

While I have you here I have to ask you something. Did you start with a 9" square and then applique? And if so how hard was it to get them all cut down to 8 1/2" before assembly? With all the stuffed pieces I'm concerned about being able to get a clean squared up cut.

I know that the pattern calls for a 9" square but I cut mine 10". I figured that I could get 4 blocks across from selvage to selvage and I always like to have a little more fudge room. I'm glad that I have the extra even though it does waste a bit more fabric. With a quilt like this, losing that little bit more doesn't matter to me. I wanted to make sure those blocks would be big enough when I got to cutting them out. It's been good so far.

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get a good cut due to the stuffing on some of those flowers. But, so far, it's been fine. I bought an 8 1/2" square ruler by creative grids and that's what I'm using. I have a mat that rotates so I cut 2 sides and then carefully rotate to cut the other 2 sides. I figure perfection is required to get all the components together properly.

Don't hesitate to ask me questions. I have had a couple of ladies that have answered questions for me and that's been so helpful. I'm happy to help in any way that I can.

Another pretty block closer to your finish. Very nice! Number 26 seemed out of place when I was making my blocks so I substituted one of the alternate blocks in its place. I think that 4-block set is in the next row to attach. I'm going to do the corner section and then that next row but I should be able to finish it up in a week or so. I'm so ready to finish my quilt and there's still so much to do.